The Fox Glacier View

Ooooooooookay, so the next morning we woke up, we were probably cold and we had to pack that lovely bitch the Saab. It was just kind of one of those same shit different pile type of mornings. EXCEPT we found out that we were supposed to pay like six bucks for staying the night. So we sped up the packing process and hit the road before the ranger made his rounds. 

It was always interesting waking up and finding out what the place we camped at looked like since we always strolled in after it was dark. That morning we woke up next to a lake. Sometimes it was mountains, sometimes it was creeks and sometimes it was just a field of grass (with mountains in the distance). 

The one and only Saab

The lake

Our packed Saab. I know it looks unorganized but everything in there has been strategically placed. Probably our best pack yet on the trip! 

Our tent (found this on Facebook, this was in Tekapo)

So we were off to Fox Glacier. BUT we were beginning our drive on the incredibly scenic west coast drive, so we figured we would take our time and pull off at miscellaneous attractions along the road. Our first stop was at something called the Blue Pools. I think you'll see I don't need to explain much once you see the pictures.

These were all over the place

Cool plants?

The two long grey figures are trout.

Yes, Gabe took a swim.

There were also several waterfalls that we came across on the drive.

A really big slip and slide with obstacles.

One of those waterfalls

Moss or something?

What most of our walks looked like.

Well we finally made it to Fox Glacier (or so we thought) but it was starting to sprinkle and the clouds were very low. But we were gunna see this damn glacier. So we pulled into this little parking lot that mentioned something about the glacier. When we pulled up there was another sign that said the glacier could be viewed after like a half hour walk. We whipped out the hiking shoes and raincoats, ate a PB&J (the good kind) and started the trek. SOOO after about a twenty minutes of a wet and muddy hike we arrived at a rather pathetic view of the glacier. It was like half a mile away and you could barely see it since the clouds were so low. We were rather disappointed  but we made up for it by carving our names in the wood of the little deck thing we stood on to view the glacier. Long story short we walked back to the car a little pissed.

Spider webs

Our view of Fox Glacier.

So we loaded into the Saab all disappointed like and continued on up the road. We sat and talked how that was sort of a wasted effort as our expectations for the glacier were much higher than what we saw. Back to the road it was. There still was the Franz Joseph glacier that we could see. Up the road we went. Then it hit us, like a red hot slap to the face, there was a sign that pointed to another viewing area where you could just drive up to a parking lot and basically walk for about twenty minutes to the bottom of the glacier. We wasted about an hour or so hiking for a lame ass view. But whatever we cut our losses and hiked on up to our better view. 

Our better view.

Finally satisfied with our experience of Fox glacier we left and began a search for food and a place to stay since it was beginning to get dark. We got to the Fox Glacier township and after about 30 minutes of debating we decided to eat at a little bar. We were considering waiting for like 40 minutes to eat at some cafe but the prices were to high and chicken nuggets at the bar sounded absolutely delicious. So thats what we did. After we ate we drove on and left the township and headed towards Franz Joseph while looking for a place to stay. As we drove away the sky began to clear but it was still moist and very cold. We were in for another cold night. We found a petrol station and asked if there was any place they recommended we could camp. They pointed us up the road about 15 minutes to a camping spot that we could pull into and if we left before the ranger came we could dodge a six dollar fee. So we drove up and found it. The sky was dark but it was only about 8 o'clock. There were some girls that were camping next to us (hippies basically) and they invited us over to there van to talk and have a couple drinks. And that's what we did. If I remember right one girl was from Detroit, one was from Chicago or North Carolina (or maybe she moved from North Carolina to Chicago or vice versa? She may not have even lived in either states but that's my best guess), and one was from Otago maybe? (its a city in the south island) Anyways D.J, Gabe and I chatted with them for a bit. After that we five crammed into the tent again and called it a day. 

One thing I would like to comment on is that in most places campfires were not allowed. It was kind of annoying and weird.

The date was 4/14/12 (14/4/12)